Understanding the Principles of Solid Shedding Surfaces Phase II
Abstract
Environmental contamination from a multitude of sources can settle on surfaces and prove to be tenacious adherents. Bird droppings,,soot, tree sap, mold and mildew, mud, and dirt are some common contaminants that adhere strongly to surfaces. For many thingswindmi,lls, construction equipment, aircraftmaintaining surfaces clear of contamination is necessary for their safe and efficient operatio,n. For the U. S. Naval fleet, two sources of contamination of particular concern are biological fouling of ship hulls and ice accumu,lation above the water line. Fouling of ship hulls increases drag, impairs ship operation, and increases fuel consumption. Even with, the use of modern antifouling coatings, maintenance of ship hulls to keep them fouling-free consumes significant resources. Ice acc,umulation on antennas can impair their function and falling ice can be a danger to sailors. While approaches to ship hull coatings t,hat do not use biocides and attempt to deter the adhesion of fouling organisms have been studied and commercial fouling-release coat,ings have been introduced, there is limited knowledge of the fundamental principles that can be employed in the design of surfaces t,hat can resist the settlement and adhesion of the wide variety of fouling organisms found in the marine environment. Similarly, whil,e many approaches to the design of coatings that resist the adhesion of ice have been studied, there is very limited knowledge regar,ding the underlying principles leading to the development of coatings that can effectively reduce and hopefully eliminate the abilit,y of ice to adhere to these surfaces. In a program initiated in 2020, we set out to answer the question: What is the fundamental nat,ure of surfaces that resist adhesion of biological adhesives and ice? In this program we will continue with this overall objective,,broaden our approaches by incorporating computational methods to enhance our understanding of the structures of surfaces designed to, resist adhesion, and expand our experimental approaches in designing new types of surfaces and coatings based on the findings of ou,r theoretical work. A cheminformatics-based approach will be used to develop mechanistic computational models that quantitatively de,scribe the structure-activity relationships in the explored surfaces and can be used to predict the properties of new complex coatin,gs. Further, molecular dynamics simulations will be used to study the surfaces of coatings and the interfacial interaction of the su,rfaces with foulants. The program will also explore new strategies for the preparation of practical coating system that can resist t,he adhesion of ice and fouling organisms. Important outcomes of the program will be new understandings of principles of material des,ign that can resist the adhesion of contaminants as well as new concepts for the design of such coating systems that can be implemen,ted commercially.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 14, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142212129
Entities
People
- Dean C Webster
Organizations
- North Dakota State University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy